04/24/24
March 23, 2010
SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Signs point to end of road for Blazers GM Pritchard
posted by BornIcon at 09:18 AM on March 23, 2010
Been watching the England-Bangladesh series a bit, since ESPN360 has actually chosen to show it. The second Test has been moving quite slowly, but not quite to Tavare's standards, it appears.
posted by boredom_08 at 09:35 AM on March 23, 2010
Signs point to end of road for Blazers GM Pritchard
Having paid almost no attention to the Western Conference this year, I was wondering what happened to put the Portland GM's job at risk. Having read that article, I'm still wondering.
posted by yerfatma at 10:04 AM on March 23, 2010
I was wondering what happened to put the Portland GM's job at risk.
Greg Oden over Kevin Durant in the 2007 NBA draft is what happened.
posted by BornIcon at 10:40 AM on March 23, 2010
BI, the Blazers are cursed when it comes to drafting big men at the low end of round 1. If they'd drafted Durant I'm pretty sure he'd be about the same healthwise as Oden is now.
posted by billsaysthis at 12:38 PM on March 23, 2010
Greg Oden over Kevin Durant in the 2007 NBA draft is what happened.
Makes no sense. They were 1 and 1A but most people agreed on Oden over Durant at the time and while Oden had been injured, no one knew he was made of porcelain. More importantly, in spite of the Oden over Durant choice, the GM has done a good job assembling a ton of young talent without spending a lot of money.
posted by yerfatma at 12:41 PM on March 23, 2010
Big men need to be able to take a pounding to be productive in the NBA. Oden had proven in his brief college career he was fragile. Bad draft choice, but a reasonable gamble.
Think of other high draft choice busts - Laetner, Bryant Reeves ... Oden's physical ability alone puts his selection on a completely different level.
Hey, at least they didn't draft "Il Mago" Bargnani ... and sign Turkoglu to a huge fa contract. Portland's ex GM ought to be on the phone to the Craptors right now as he'd be a huge upgrade.
posted by cixelsyd at 01:11 PM on March 23, 2010
Zydrunas Ilgauskas signs deal to return to Cavs
I know that the Cavs and Big Z found a loop hole in the NBA trade procedure so that he could return to the Cavs after 30 days but my question is.. Is it fair?
posted by BornIcon at 03:06 PM on March 23, 2010
Think of other high draft choice busts - Laetner, Bryant Reeves ...
Here endeth the lesson for the Vancouver Grizzlies.
posted by Spitztengle at 03:11 PM on March 23, 2010
Makes no sense..no one knew he was made of porcelain
Actually, if you remember what was being said about him before the draft, that was actually the knock on Oden. There were questions surrounding Oden from scouts and GM's all wondering if he would be able to stay healthy or avoid any serious injuries in the NBA considering how big he was and how old he looked for his age.
It's a shame since before he got injured again this season, he was showing flashes of panning out for the Blazers with 11.1 pts 8.5 rbs 2.3 blks per game.
posted by BornIcon at 03:17 PM on March 23, 2010
Actually, if you remember
I do. My point is that you can't kill a GM for a decision most of them would make, especially since that GM had already been building a really good team and still is. It'd be like if any loss at a casino table took all your money, not just what you bet. No one would play.
posted by yerfatma at 03:50 PM on March 23, 2010
My point is that you can't kill a GM for a decision most of them would make
But a GM can get fired by an owner that isn't satisfied with the way the team is playing... even if that team is playing above .500 ball.
I do understand what you're saying though.
posted by BornIcon at 04:17 PM on March 23, 2010
I was wondering what happened to put the Portland GM's job at risk. Having read that article, I'm still wondering.
Same here. I don't think you can blame Pritchard for Oden's injuries. If it was so clear that Oden would be injury-plagued he wouldn't have been the near-consensus top prospect.
Besides, isn't this team right where you want it to be? They are young and a piece away from being contenders. Scratch that, they are just a clean bill of health away from being championship contenders. Not sure what else you could ask for.
posted by tron7 at 06:14 PM on March 23, 2010
History's Most Boring Cricketer has a fan.
And you can never get enough cricket on SpoFi.